Post by jrrohe on Mar 25, 2008 14:09:12 GMT -5

My eldest daughter saved half of the money needed to purchase Kirsten in 1990, she received her for Christmas that year (her dad & I supplied the other half) when she was 10. I still have her as a display doll and she is in like new condition. She was played with for about four or five years. Kirsten has the tan body and ash blonde hair. She has never developed silver eye or any other problems. The only thing that I did was wash her hair. The quality of these dolls is just amazing! I'd post a picture but I don't know how. (I'll have to go to Tech Talk when I have time.)

Post by EofA on Aug 9, 2008 21:41:42 GMT -5

This thread needs more photos of PM Kirsten. Mine is circa 1993-94. She has the typical dry hair of older Kirstens, which generous and regular application of synthetic hair conditioner is needed to treat. She's also a bit pale, but that comes with the territory. All in all, she is a lovely doll with lovely squishy vinyl. Now I do like the soft face paint and glossy hair of the Mattel dolls, but I wouldn't trade in my pale, straw-haired Kirsten for one if you asked!

Post by AllyKat on Aug 28, 2009 14:21:25 GMT -5

I just received my PM Kirsten today. She came with a Hair Care tag that said the doll was made in Germany. Her meet dress is tagged 1993. Her face is definitely fuller than the Mattel dolls, and is more full than my sister's PM Felicity purchased in 1997. Her makeup is light, though how much is because of light application vs. fading over time is unknown. Kirsten's vinyl feels different from Felicity, though she was a former display doll, and Felicity had a lot of loving, so that could be why. Her hair and lashes are soft, with the lashes looking longer and lighter than the current Mattel dolls. The lashes are darker than blonde, but are not a super dark brown. Her blue eyes are pinwheel, and very striking. She has Pleasant Company stamped on her neck, but it is right along her wig line, so you have to push her hair up a bit to see it. Her braids aren't as perfect and rounded as a Mattel Kirsten, but they have never been taken out, and I think that a few flyaways are to be expected after 16 years. All in all, a lovely doll, with a sweet, darling face!

Post by americangirl276 on Oct 17, 2009 19:23:05 GMT -5

I got my tan bodied Kirsten in 1998. She has cut bangs ( It's a long story!) and is pale. Her hair is all messed up and frayed at the end. Like some other people, i would NEVER trade her for a mattel version! I will not send her to the doll hospital because i'd have to get a new head for her.

Post by samantha4ever on Oct 26, 2009 19:04:34 GMT -5

I like the Mattel Kirsten face better, the face paint makes her look more life like. But I like the PM "meet" dress much better the floral pattern is bigger and stands out more. I love my PM Kirsten doll although her hair does need some TLC maybe a possible re-wigging.

Post by rosieangel on Nov 30, 2009 14:13:28 GMT -5

I got my Kirsten in 1993. I do agree with the posters saying that her hair is very dry and prone to frizzing and her skin looks rather flat and colorless when compared to later versions, but I love my Kirsten just the way she is and wouldn't change anything about her for the world. I think Kirsten is the cutest of all of the historical PM American Girl dolls - Her eyes are just so friendly and inviting, just like the sweet character in the book who just wanted to love and be loved by everyone everyone around her.

My one big complaint, which may have been a flaw with all of the PM dolls, since my PM Felicity has the exact same problem, is that Kirsten could never stand on her own without the help of a doll stand. She'd just double over and face-plant onto the nearest hard surface in a sad sad way. I do have doll stands, but when I see the newer Kirstens standing on their own, it makes me feel a little envious.

Kirsten came with her Meet dress, which is my favorite (along with her winter outfit) due to its gorgeous blue color, white contrasting collar and cuffs, and lovely fit. The dress really brings out her eyes. I don't have a problem with the comparatively thinner fabric - in Meet Kirsten, her dress was an old hand-me-down from an older cousin, so it's only natural that the fabric is more "worn out" than her other ones.

Her pantaloons are also very cute - I love their eyelet trim! The socks aren't my favorite and the brown moccasin shoes don't look anything like hers and are hideous, in my opinion, but I rectified that situation by buying her additional socks and shoes right away!

Here is my Kirsten, with alternate socks and shoes, also wearing her "Meet" accessories:

And Kirsten in her birthday dress, wearing the shoes that come with her. Since I never bought the two-toned ones, these are the only ones that even remotely matched said dress. Aren't they just... sad? Throughout her books, Kirsten's few desires are usually fashion-centric - pretty dresses, a stylish hat with cherries, a new apron, etc. I know that she HATES these shoes. She doesn't complain, since Kirsten is a good girl and will make due with whateve she has, but she still hates them and dreams about nicer shoes at night. True story.

Post by cymbre on Feb 12, 2010 17:54:15 GMT -5

I wasn't sure whether to post this under PM or Mattel Kirsten but here's a comparison of a PM Kirsten (~1996) and a Kirsten with a brand new (Feb 2010) Mattel head:

My Kirsten is on the left, as is probably obvious. The difference in face coloring (skin as well as lips and cheeks) is even more dramatic than I expected, the new Kirsten has darker eyes & hair about what I expected, but I was completely unprepared for how dramatic the difference in face shape is. My PM Kirsten has a flatter, perhaps squarer face over all. New Kirsten also has shorter, less insanely full bangs. These are of course just two examples; I think it's clear from other posts that there are variations all over the place, not just PM vs. Mattel. But these are a particularly strikingly different pair.

PM Kirsten is rather pale; Mattel Kirsten looks like she's wearing too much lipstick. The new bangs look more reasonable to me (never mind the discussions about Kirsten having bangs at all). There's a certain charm to each face shape.

Post by 12kizuna on Mar 14, 2010 15:19:04 GMT -5

Kirsten is and always will be my favorite girl.

I didn't know where to stick her as I believe her to be a transitional Kirsten. She is from the 90's, and shows signs of both PM and Mattel dolls. She has a body tag, but all of her clothes, her neckstamp, and everything I got for her around that period of time are marked Pleasant Company. I love her dearly as she was the first AG doll of my very own. I received her for Christmas when I was younger.

I take her braids out of their loops regularly, but the braids are her original braids. I was meticulous about keeping her nice when I was younger, and boy am I glad I did! Her hair is not the least bit dry, except for possibly the very ends of the braids. Perhaps it is luck, or perhaps it is the cool, dry, upper NY weather. Who knows.

Kirsten has gorgeous long blond hair and cool blue eyes. Everything about her is sweet. She comes in an adorable blue calico cotton dress, with a striped apron of thicker material. The apron has a little pocket. She has light blue woven hair ribbons, also.

Her boots are brown and soft, though not very sturdy. Her socks are thick and go up to below her knee. She has white eyelet pantelettes, also!

Overall: She is my favorite American Girl doll ever, and will always hold a dear place in my heart. She is gorgeous and I love her stories and character. I will always be the biggest Kirsten fan.

Post by Okore on Jun 15, 2010 17:25:54 GMT -5

I'm not quite sure how to follow that gorgeous doll in the post above this one! : O

But I thought I'd share a few shots of my sweet Kirsten. She's from around 1994 and she doesn't have a body tag.Only thing I don't completely love about her is the bangs. I like them, but they're huge and they really bring out the OCD in me when I spend forever getting them to lay just right. ^-^

Post by sjann1026 on Aug 23, 2010 0:32:38 GMT -5

Kirsten was my first AG doll as a girl. I got her in 1995. My only complaint about her is that she has dry hair (compared to my newer dolls, at least) but I think that's more due to my not knowing how to "properly" care for her hair back then, than being any fault on Pleasant Company's part. Her face has very little face paint, but I love the sweet, innocent look it gives her.

Post by vanarhk on Jan 28, 2011 23:59:37 GMT -5

I just wanted to post pictures of my PM German (German tagged dress) Kirsten NIB, well mostly....Anyways, I am also going to picture her with a newer PM Kirsten and a PM number 3 just like you doll

Here she is alone:

I don't know if you can tell from this picture but the biggest difference is in the dress pattern. The German Kirsten's dress has none of the dark yellow petals found on the normal PM Kirsten's dress below.

The PM Kirsten below has two different flower type things dispersed around the dress, there are these small pink square looking things along with the larger flowers (green stem with two small green leaves near the bottom, then up the stem just under the reddish 4 petal flower are two dark yellow 'petals'

On the German Kirsten above, The dress has NONE of those small pinkish square looking things in the pattern (instead there are smaller reddish little flowers with tiny green leaves and without stems). Then there are also the green longer stemmed, reddish petaled flowers (without those dark yellow under-petals from the other non German PM dress.)

PM me if you have noticed this before, especially if you have seen the German print, as the other PM one is much more commonly the one used. Thanks!

Post by Buckingham Alice on Mar 30, 2011 7:33:59 GMT -5

While I love my beautiful Mattel Kirsten, I've always found that the PM Kirstens look more like the book illustrations. The one that belongs to a friend (shown below dressed in Rebecca's meet) is pale with little face coloring and cornsilk colored hair. I've always felt that Mattel Kirsten has a lemony sort of hair color. These two dolls don't look very much alike. The PM K looks more like the owner's sister's PM #20.

Post by lizzybug on Jun 25, 2011 1:51:49 GMT -5

These Kirsten dolls are both so cute, but their face is clearly different. The Kirsten on the left is PM tan bodied from 1991, the Kirsten on the right is PM tan-bodied, unknown date?? The left Kirsten also is a bit skinnier and has a little shorter hair. Her braids are original, hair still soft and shiny! I just got the Kirsten on the right from Goodwill, so I am trying to determine just when her head mold is from! Both are adorable!!

Post by gotycutie on Jun 29, 2011 9:30:31 GMT -5

My Kirsten doll is from 1993. She has all the characteristics of a PM doll but a tan body. My only complaint with her is that her paint is a little too light. If someone gave me the chance to trade my Kirsten in for another, I would decline. Her grade is an A- just becuase of the paint being too light.

Post by Lisa on Jun 5, 2012 18:38:10 GMT -5

Meet my PM Kirsten from eBay. I purchased her along with her complete meet outfit and accessories, her bed, her school dress, and her apron dress for $70! She was a childhood doll of the eBay seller. I touched up her facial paint, downey dunked her hair, and replaced 7 eyelashes where there appeared to be a few missing from the outside corner of her right eye. For the eyelashes, I used my own hair, so now we share DNA, ha ha! She's already near and dear to my heart!

Her face is soft, her body is kinda squishy, she has soft eyelashes, her limbs are slightly soft and she has thick ankles. "Pleasant Company" is stamped on the back of her neck, no body tag. Her meet dress is tagged Hungary.

Post by agluv13 on Dec 25, 2012 23:56:14 GMT -5

I just got my PM Kirsten for Christmas and I love her! She is very beautiful although her bangs are a bit long. Nevertheless, it braids nicely and is long, which I personally love. Her dress is lovely although gets a bit wrinkled if you are not careful. Overall, she is a gorgeous doll and earns an A in my book!

Post by aerona8592 on May 23, 2013 20:05:56 GMT -5

I just got my Kirsten in the mail today. She has one silver eye (which I knew about when I bought her) and some scratching to the left of one eye, but is otherwise gorgeous. Her meet outfit is marked "made in West-Germany and she has no body tag. I think she has been unstuffed and restuffed because she is on the skinny side of the spectrum. I'm working on getting her hair back to manageable now. I may restring her later but I think the silver eye gives her character!

Post by ladystamp on Feb 21, 2014 17:33:40 GMT -5

Kirsten was my first doll...I always wanted to get her for my daughter, as she is her namesake....but back then ...just didn't have the $$$$. I got my Kirsten on Ebay...and have made her outfits...have all the outfits made to go with the set of 6 books....am starting on the other books.